Set top box and associated method of operation to facilitate display of locally sourced display data

Abstract

A display system employs a set top box and an associated method of operation to facilitate display of locally sourced display data. The set top box includes a radio signal receiver, a wireless receiver, a display interface, and one or more optional decoders. The radio signal receiver receives a broadcast signal from a remote broadcast source over an associated communication link. The wireless receiver receives a wireless signal from a local source over a wireless communication link. Both the broadcast signal and the wireless signal include encoded display data, such as MPEG-encoded video and/or graphics. The decoder(s), when used, decodes the encoded data contained in both signals to extract the respective display data, and the display interface provides the extracted display data to a display device. Alternatively, the decoder may reside in the display device, in which case, the display interface provides the encoded data directly to the display device.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A set top box that is operably coupleable to a display device via a first communication link, the set top box comprising: 
 a radio signal receiver that receives a broadcast signal from a remote broadcast source over a second communication link, the broadcast signal including first encoded display data;    a wireless receiver that receives second encoded display data from a local source over a third communication link;    at least one decoder, operably coupled to the wireless receiver and the radio signal receiver, that decodes the first encoded display data to produce first display data and decodes the second encoded display data to produce second display data; and    a display interface, operably coupled to the decoder, that provides the first display data and the second display data to the display device over the first communication link.    
     
     
         2 . The set top box of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 a wireless transmitter, operably coupled to the wireless receiver, that transmits an acknowledgment of receipt of the second encoded display data to the local source over a fourth communication link.    
     
     
         3 . The set top box of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 an encoder, operably coupled to the decoder, that encodes the first display data to produce third encoded display data; and    a wireless transmitter, operably coupled to the encoder, that transmits the third encoded display data over a fourth communication link to the local source, the fourth communication link having a bandwidth substantially less than a bandwidth of the first communication link.    
     
     
         4 . The set top box of  claim 3 , wherein the encoder encodes the first display data in accordance with a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) encoding specification.  
     
     
         5 . The set top box of  claim 3 , wherein the wireless transmitter comprises at least one of an optical transmitter, a radio frequency transmitter, and a microwave transmitter.  
     
     
         6 . The set top box of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one decoder decodes the first encoded display data and the second encoded display data in accordance with a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) decoding specification.  
     
     
         7 . The set top box of  claim 1 , wherein the wireless receiver comprises at least one of an optical receiver, a radio frequency receiver, and a microwave receiver.  
     
     
         8 . The set top box of  claim 1 , wherein the first display data includes at least one of graphics data and video data.  
     
     
         9 . The set top box of  claim 1 , wherein the second display data includes at least one of graphics data and video data.  
     
     
         10 . The set top box of  claim 1 , wherein the radio signal receiver comprises one of a cable television receiver and a direct broadcast satellite receiver.  
     
     
         11 . The set top box of  claim 1 , wherein the third communication link has a bandwidth that is substantially less than a bandwidth of the first communication link.  
     
     
         12 . The set top box of  claim 11 , wherein the second communication link has a bandwidth that is substantially less than the bandwidth of the first communication link.  
     
     
         13 . The set top box of  claim 12 , wherein the bandwidth of the first communication link is greater than one Gigahertz, wherein the bandwidth of the second communication link is in a range of approximately five to approximately thirty Megahertz, and wherein the bandwidth of the third communication link is in a range of approximately one to approximately thirty Megahertz.  
     
     
         14 . A set top box that is operably coupleable to a display device via a first communication link, the display device including a decoder for decoding encoded display data, the set top box comprising: 
 a radio signal receiver that receives a broadcast signal from a remote broadcast source over a second communication link to produce a received broadcast signal, the broadcast signal including first encoded display data;    a wireless receiver that receives second encoded display data from a local source over a third communication link; and    a display interface, operably coupled to the radio signal receiver and the wireless receiver, that provides the first encoded display data and the second encoded display data to the display device via the first communication link.    
     
     
         15 . The set top box of  claim 14 , wherein the received broadcast signal comprises one of a cable television signal and a direct broadcast satellite signal.  
     
     
         16 . The set top box of  claim 14 , wherein the radio signal receiver selectively receives the broadcast signal responsive to a control signal, the set top box further including at least one of a remote control signal receiver and a user interface that receives the control signal from a user of the set top box.  
     
     
         17 . The set top box of  claim 16 , wherein the control signal comprises a wireless signal transmitted from a wireless remote control device.  
     
     
         18 . The set top box of  claim 14 , wherein the first encoded display data and the second encoded display data comprises data encoded in accordance with a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) encoding specification.  
     
     
         19 . The set top box of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 a wireless transmitter, operably coupled to the radio signal receiver, that transmits the first encoded display data over a fourth communication link to the local source.    
     
     
         20 . The set top box of  claim 19 , wherein the wireless transmitter comprises at least one of an optical transmitter, a radio frequency transmitter, and a microwave transmitter.  
     
     
         21 . The set top box of  claim 14 , further comprising: 
 a wireless transmitter, operably coupled to the wireless receiver, that transmits an acknowledgment of receipt of the second encoded display data to the local source over a fourth communication link.    
     
     
         22 . A wireless display system comprising: 
 a local display data source including: 
 a central processor that issues drawing commands to draw graphics primitives;  
 a graphics processor, operably coupled to the central processor, that receives the drawing commands and renders the graphics primitives to produce a graphics data stream;  
 an encoder, operably coupled to the graphics processor, that encodes the graphics data stream to produce first encoded display data; and  
 a wireless transmitter, operably coupled to the encoder, that transmits the first encoded display data over a first communication link; and  
   a set top box including: 
 a radio signal receiver that receives a broadcast signal from a remote broadcast source over a second communication link, the broadcast signal including second encoded display data;  
 a wireless receiver that receives the first encoded display data from the local graphics source over the first communication link;  
 at least one decoder, operably coupled to the radio signal receiver and the wireless receiver, that decodes at least one of the first encoded display data and the second encoded display data to produce decoded display data; and  
 a display interface, operably coupled to the at least one decoder, that provides the decoded display data to a display device over a third communication link.  
   
     
     
         23 . The wireless display system of  claim 22 , wherein the set top box further comprises: 
 a second encoder, operably coupled to the at least one decoder, that encodes the decoded display data in the event that the decoded display data includes a decoded representation of the second encoded display data to produce re-encoded display data; and    a second wireless transmitter, operably coupled to the second encoder, that transmits the re-encoded display data to the local graphics source via a fourth communication link; and    wherein the local graphics source further comprises: 
 a second wireless receiver that receives the re-encoded display data from the set top box over the fourth communication link;  
 a second decoder, operably coupled to the second wireless receiver, that decodes the re-encoded display data to produce second decoded display data; and  
 a display interface, operably coupled to the second decoder, that provides the second decoded display data to a second display device operably coupled to the local graphics source.  
   
     
     
         24 . The wireless display system of  claim 22 , wherein the local graphics source comprises one of a personal computer, a laptop computer, a palmtop computer, and a personal digital assistant.  
     
     
         25 . The wireless display system of  claim 22 , wherein the wireless transmitter is implemented on an insertable personal computer card.  
     
     
         26 . The wireless display system of  claim 22 , wherein at the first communication link and the second communication link have a bandwidth that is substantially less than a bandwidth of the third communication link.  
     
     
         27 . A method for a set top box to facilitate display of locally sourced display data on a display device operably coupled to the set top box, the method comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a broadcast signal from a remote broadcast source over a first communication link, the broadcast signal including first encoded display data;    receiving second encoded display data over a second communication link from a local source;    decoding at least one of the first encoded display data and the second encoded display data to produce decoded display data; and    providing the decoded display data to the display device over a third communication link.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising the steps of: 
 encoding at least a portion of the decoded display data in the event that the decoded display data includes first encoded display data to produce second encoded display data; and    transmitting the second encoded display data to the local source over a fourth communication link.    
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the step of encoding comprises the step of encoding at least a portion of the decoded display data in accordance with a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) encoding specification.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising the step of: 
 transmitting an acknowledgment of receipt of the second encoded display data to the local source over a fourth communication link.    
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 27 , further comprising the step of: 
 selecting the broadcast signal from a plurality of broadcast signals received from the remote broadcast source in response to a control signal received from a user of the set top box via one of a wireless remote control receiver and a user interface of the set top box.    
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the step of decoding comprises the step of decoding at least one of the first encoded display data and the second encoded display data in accordance with a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) decoding specification.  
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the first communication link has a bandwidth that is substantially less than a bandwidth of the third communication link.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the second communication link has a bandwidth that is substantially less than the bandwidth of the third communication link.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the bandwidth of the first communication link is in a range of approximately five to approximately thirty Megahertz, wherein the bandwidth of the second communication link is in a range of approximately one to approximately thirty Megahertz, and wherein the bandwidth of the third communication link is greater than one Gigahertz.  
     
     
         36 . A method for a set top box to facilitate display of locally sourced display data on a high definition display device coupled to the set top box, the high definition display device including a decoder that decodes in accordance with a Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) decoding specification, the method comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a broadcast signal from a remote broadcast source over a first communication link, the broadcast signal including first MPEG-encoded display data;    receiving a wireless signal from a local source over a second communication link, the wireless signal including second MPEG-encoded display data;    selecting at least one of the broadcast signal and the wireless signal to produce at least one selected signal; and    providing the at least one selected signal to the high definition display device over a third communication link for decoding by the decoder, wherein the third communication link has the a bandwidth that is substantially greater than individual bandwidths of the first communication link and the second communication link.